Hopeless Crush
by thefaultin0urfandom
Summary: "Will didn't speak. He didn't say reassuring words, didn't immediately sympathise with him, and didn't even walk away. Instead, a slap cracked across Nico's face." Solangelo. Nico wallows in his feelings for Will and there is a bit of angst as well! Canon.


**Such a nerd. I'm such a nerd. I'm writing a Solangelo fic yet again. Ugh. I love them. MY BABIES! I've got about ten unfinished ones with them saved on my computer right now.**

 **Enjoy! And maybe read my other one as well?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HOO**

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Nico groaned. It was only the second semester in his new school, but he already felt like he was going to be killed by homework and responsibilities. Forget monsters, school was definitely going to be his downfall. He couldn't believe it when Chiron had suggested that Nico went to high school. It wasn't even a high school that any of his friends were going to. Chiron had said that there may be a few demigods in the school that Nico could pick out and take to camp. A few people from camp were doing the same thing in their own schools. _Still_ , Nico thought, as he listened to the teacher saying which pages to read for homework, _at least it's only going to be for two years_. Then he could go to college in New Rome with his sister and friends.

"Remember that for the next period you have to go to the Lecture Hall!" The teacher's warbling voice cut into Nico's thoughts. "You'll have a guest speaker telling you about Health and Safety!"

Nico groaned once again. He already knew way too much about Health and Safety, thanks to the helping out in the infirmary and education of Will Solace. Nico winced. Don't think about him. Similar noises of dissent ran throughout the room. One of his friends (well, someone who was willing to talk to him), Carla, nudged Nico in the side. "At least we're missing Biology, yeah?"

Nico huffed. "Yes, missing a boring biology lesson for more boring biology! Great!"

"Thank you, o sarcastic one," Carla deadpanned, though she was smiling.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. Nico shouldered his bag, and trudged slowly to the Lecture Hall with Carla.

"I bet it'll be an old geezer with a horrifying beard who will talk about sex or something. As if we haven't learnt about _that_ before," Carla grumbled as they took their seats.

Nico blushed. Even though it had been many years since he had gotten out of the Lotus Casino, his mind was still somewhere in the 1940s, where it was unacceptable to talk about such delicate things so flippantly. Nico nodded, and prepared himself for 45 minutes of sleep.

When everyone had finally been ushered to their seats, a teacher walked up to the podium. "A student from Something High School will be talking to you about lifesaving. We hope that you all come away from this with new knowledge in your brain!"

Nico rolled his eyes, but suddenly sat up straight. Something High School... A student...? Didn't Will say that he was going to speak in a school today...?

"Oh my gods," Nico whispered, slumping in his chair.

"What?" Carla hissed. The teacher was talking about the benefits of lifesaving and not to be rude to the student speaking, but Nico tuned that out.

"Um," he said. "It doesn't matter. I just realised something."

Carla narrowed her eyes at him but shook her head and leant back in her seat. "Whatever."

"Please welcome William Solace!"

Nico made a soft noise in his throat as the tall son of Apollo walked in the room, smiling brightly.

Will was also one of the few people Chiron had selected to go to a random high school and find some demigods. A muted sound of applause ran through the room.

Nico stared in horror as his crush, Will Solace, introduced himself. Why is he here? The only place that I can escape my feelings? Nico was pretty sure that he was in love with the amazing demigod, in the same way that he was sure that Will was probably as straight as a ruler. Nico sighed. He had talked to Will last week, in an extremely awkward Iris Message in which he had turned into a tomato when Will had switched on his blinding grin that made Nico weak at the knees. He had told him that he would be speaking about lifesaving at a school, though he neglected to tell which one. Of course. No wonder Will had been snickering.

During Nico's self pitying monologue, Will had explained the importance of life saving ("You never know when someone's going to collapse because they've been working so hard!" Nico was sure that Will had glanced his way at that.) He was now going through the steps of the recovery position.

Nico and Carla were sitting at the back, so could whisper without fear of being told off.

"This is so boring," whispered Carla, doodling in her workbook. "I've already taken a lifesaving course! I know all this shit."

"Yeah, same," Nico found himself whispering back.

"Wait, seriously?" asked Carla incredulously. "I thought you hated all that stuff."

"I do," Nico said. "My friends made me take it."

"Some friends," Carla scoffed.

Nico shrugged. He marvelled at himself. There he was, casually chatting about his personal life with a mortal girl? He had barely spoken to his half blood friends before. A lot had changed since the Giant War. Nico was now kind of popular within camp, and many of the younger campers looked up to him. He was no longer lingering between life and death, and hung other with his friends regularly. He had reconciled with Percy, and found a confidant within Jason. Apparently Nico smiled much more often.

Half an hour later, Will had finished his talk. Nico was still slightly horrified, and hoped that he could escape without Will noticing him.

The talk had been surprisingly funny, and at least three quarters of the student body were still awake by the end.

The teacher thanked Will, and dismissed them all. Nico realised, heart sinking, that Will was standing near the only doorway, and was looking right at him. Nico felt helpless. He was embarrassed that he loved Will. Will obviously only thought of him as a friend.

 _Was this what it felt like,_ Nico thought, _to truly love someone?_ Nico felt elated and crushed whenever he saw Will. He was never like this with Percy.

Will was smiling, watching as Nico slowly made his way down the steps.

"Hey, Nico!" he said. He grabbed Nico's wrist. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Nico's eyes widened but plastered a fake smile on his face. "Of course!" He grimaced. That might've been a little too enthusiastic. Carla frowned, but waved goodbye to Nico and left the hall.

Will continued smiling pleasantly until the last person had walked out. He leant against the closed door and folded his arms.

"Hi, Will," Nico said lightly. "I didn't know you'd be here."

Will raised an eyebrow, and Nico fell silent. Gods. This was awkward.

The quiet stretched on for a few more minutes, and just when Nico was seriously considering the consequences of darting from the room, Will spoke.

"You've been avoiding me," he said brusquely.

"Um. Really?" Nico asked. He was a person generally associated with the feeling of anger and hostility, but Will was the only person who could make Nico be on the receiving end. Nico was honestly shaking with fright.

"Yes." Will looked ready to murder someone.

"But I only talked to you last week," said Nico, desperately trying to sound like he was not making up excuses. Even though he was.

Will stared at him. "We talked for literally five minutes! And before that, we hadn't talked for a month!"

"Oh." Nico swallowed. He had a bitter taste in his mouth. "I..."

Will waited for him expectantly. "Do you want to tell me why?" he asked infuriatingly slowly, as if speaking to a toddler.

"Not particularly," Nico said weakly. At Will's death glare, he hurried to explain. "I mean, I don't know why. I guess it's because I have a lot on my plate at the moment." Nico groaned internally. What a pathetic excuse.

Will let out a short derisive laugh.

"Why do you care if you talk to me or not, anyway? It's not as if people actually like being with me," Nico said, staring at the ground.

There was no response. Nico hesitantly looked upwards and was greeted with the most deadly death glare he had ever seen.

Will looked like he was about to burst. "You really think that, di Angelo?" His voice was gentle.

Nico started in surprise. He was expecting Will to yell at him and walk away.

"I- yeah. I guess," he said carefully.

"Why?"

Nico wavered uncertainly. "Because... I'm the son of Hades. I'm not likeable and I've always been a burden. I'm so inadequate, I could have saved so many people in the Titan and Giant Wars, but I didn't. When Bianca died, my father wanted me to die instead of her. And..." He trailed off. He hadn't meant to say that much. Those feelings had been bottled up inside for so long and it had just burst out.

Will didn't speak. He didn't say reassuring words, didn't immediately sympathise with him, and didn't even walk away.

Instead, a slap cracked across Nico's face.

Nico bent down, gasping, holding his smarting cheek in surprise. "Oh my gods," he said, more in shock than pain, "why...?"

Will didn't seem sorry. "Why are you so hard on yourself?" he whispered. Nico gaped. "Why do you think you don't have friends?"

"I... I guess I do," Nico admitted. "But only because they're obligated to be with me."

"Gods, Nico," Will said. Nico's heart clenched as the name rolled seamlessly off of his tongue. "How many times do I have to say this? I like you for you. We all like you for you."

Nico's cheeks burned. How could he be so stupid, saying that in front of Will? And then, Will had said... 'I like you for you.' Nico felt a blush rise to his face. This goddamn crush was getting on his nerves.

Will wasn't finished. "You saved us from two wars all by yourself, you brought the Athena Parthenos and was able to stop a massive fight between the Greeks and Romans, you use your death powers for good, and you're funny, you-" He had to be cut off there as the short black son of Hades launched himself at him and buried his face against his chest. Will gasped in surprise but wound his arms around Nico and tucked his head under his own.

Nico was quietly sobbing and mumbling apologies. "I'm sorry, Will," he said. "I didn't know..."

Will didn't say a word, just pulled him tighter, signalling his forgiveness. Nico was astonished at himself; he usually detested physical contact, even the touch of a hand, and here he was, hugging the son of Apollo? He suddenly felt mortified.

He pushed Will away, who had lost the terrifyingly blank look on his face. "I- I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," Nico muttered. He wiped his tears on his sleeve.

Will smiled. "Well it was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one." Nico choked. "Do you know accept that your friends actually like being with you?"

"Yeah." Nico hung his head in shame.

Will patted him on the shoulder, and for once Nico didn't flinch. Will seemed to smile even brighter.

"It's the end of the day, right?" he said.

"Yeah..."

"Come to camp for the weekend," Will said. "It'll be fun!"

Nico nodded in assent. Will reached for the door, but Nico stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Wait a second, Will," he said.

 _It's now or never,_ he thought. Nico grabbed Will's collar, and brought his face down to Nico's own.

Will smiled and leant in, their lips touching.

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 **Hmmm... My dorks are such cuties! Idk this could have been written better... Also I always seem to end the fics with them kissing. *sigh***

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks for reading and maybe check out my other stories?**


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